A quick and easy prawn bhuna made with juicy king prawns and store cupboard Indian spices.
This medium-hot prawn curry is on the table in just 25 minutes and perfect for your next curry night feast!
This easy king prawn bhuna makes a nice change from my usual go-to chicken curry.
The word Bhuna means 'to fry' and that is literally what you do. Firstly frying the chopped onion, garlic, ginger and chili, and then the Indian spices (most of which you will already have in your pantry).
Tomatoes are then added, in this case in the form of passata, which creates a rich and spicy bhuna sauce, perfect for the sweet and juicy king prawns!
👩🍳 If you like medium hot curries, you should try my easy lamb balti! Love prawns? Then you'll want to try my easy prawn chow mein!
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- The recipe takes just 25 minutes.
- Perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.
- Spicy and flavourful.
- Can be frozen.
🥘 Ingredients
- King Prawns - I buy big packs of cooked frozen king prawns so I always have them on hand for quick and easy recipes like this.
- Onion - 1 small white onion, chopped finely.
- Garlic - I love garlic so used 3 cloves in this curry.
- Ginger - a 3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated.
- Chili - an authentic bhuna uses a green chili, but I only had red to hand, so that's what I used.
- Coriander - finely chop the stalks to fry with the onion, and use the leaves to garnish the finished dish.
- Spices - you'll need a medium-hot curry powder, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and ground coriander.
- Passata - or use a tin of chopped tomatoes.
- Mango Chutney - the sweetness of the mango chutney helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Olive Oil - for frying.
- Salt and Pepper - to season.
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
- Heat the oil in a frying pan or shallow casserole and fry the chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chili, and coriander stalks for 3 minutes.
- Add the spices and fry for a further 2 minutes.
- Pour in the passata and spoon in the mango chutney. Give everything a good mix and simmer on a medium low heat for 10 minutes.
- Add the cooked king prawns and warm through for 3-4 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and season with salt and pepper.
🍴 Serving suggestions
If I'm cooking up a curry night feast for friends, I often serve the prawn bhuna alongside a few other curries such as mild chicken curry for kids, and creamy halloumi curry.
Homemade pilau rice or turmeric rice, naan bread, and popadoms are always served alongside too!
📖 Variations
- Swap the prawns for leftover roast chicken or beef.
- Make it veggie by using quorn pieces instead of the king prawns.
- Up the heat by adding a teaspoon of chilli flakes (at the same time as the spices).
- A bhuna traditionally doesn't have cream or coconut milk in it, but if you like your curries creamy then add some! 150ml of either should do the trick.
- A sprinkling of toasted cashew nuts just before serving adds crunch and texture.
🥡 Storage
The cooked bhuna will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat thoroughly in the microwave before serving.
The prawn bhuna can also be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating until piping hot in the microwave.
❓ FAQS
A bhuna is a medium-hot tomato based curry with no cream or coconut milk added.
The English translation of Balti is 'bucket' and Bhuna is 'fried'. Generally, balti's are drier and slightly less spicy than bhuna's.
King prawns are more authentic but you can swap for ordinary prawns, which are usually cheaper.
Defrost the frozen cooked king prawns overnight in your refrigerator.
😋Related recipes
More prawn recipes you might enjoy!
🍽️ More family-friendly recipes
Curry recipes from the Effortless Foodie kitchen!
Recipe
Easy Prawn Bhuna
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Onion peeled and finely chopped
- 3 Garlic Cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 3 cm Fresh Ginger peeled and grated
- 1 Chili deseeded and chopped
- 2 tablespoon Coriander Stalks finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon Medium-Hot Curry Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Ground Coriander
- 400 g Passata
- 2 tablespoon Mango Chutney
- 375 g Cooked King Prawns if frozen defrost before use
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Leaves chopped
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan or shallow casserole and fry the chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chili, and coriander stalks for 3 minutes.
- Add the spices and fry for a further 2 minutes.
- Pour in the passata and spoon in the mango chutney. Give everything a good mix and simmer on a medium low heat for 10 minutes.
- Add the cooked king prawns and warm through for 3-4 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and season with salt and pepper.
Video
Notes
- Swap the prawns for leftover roast chicken or beef.
- Make it veggie by using quorn pieces instead of the king prawns.
- Up the heat by adding a teaspoon of chilli flakes (at the same time as the spices).
- A bhuna traditionally doesn't have cream or coconut milk in it, but if you like your curries creamy then add some! 150ml of either should do the trick.
- A sprinkling of toasted cashew nuts just before serving adds crunch and texture.
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Wanda
This dish sounds so delicious, what an awesome combination of flavours! Bookmarking!
Rachna
Oh my what a delicious dish! I love prawns and Indian curries are my favourite. I am surely trying this out soon.
Sharon Chen
Delicious! I will definitely serve this for our family dinner soon.
Michelle
I love all of the flavors in this simple dish, and the shrimp are cooked perfectly
Mike
Well flavoured easy to make Bhuna style sauce. Can I suggest that the medium curry powder be reduced from 2 to 1 tablespoon. I love hot curries but Bhuna should not be this hot. Thanks for a great easy to cook - goto recipe which is delicious.
chris baker
Made this one the 10th August and it was a real treat flavoursome and easy to make and the spices were just right.
Brian Chapman
Made this tonight.... 'twas lush. 🙂
Beth Sachs
Glad you enjoyed it Brian!